MaximumPC 2004 09

Reviews

SEPTEMBER 2004 MA XIMUMPC 73

Best of the Best As of September, 2004

After months of dominating our Best of the Best list, Compaq’s famous iPaq has finally been

bumped by a more worthy PDA: Dell’s Axim X30. Dell’s first PDAs weren’t much to write home

about, but the new X30 is one sexy beast, Ms. Moneypenny. Because of waning activity in the CD-

RW category, we’ve eliminated it from our list. (CD-RW freaks should note that the Plextor Premium

remains our favorite CD-RW-only drive.) In the videocard category, we’re withholding judgment

on PCI Express cards until we can see more of them. In other news, Maxtor’s 300GB DiamondMax

10 and its 16MB cache bested Hitachi’s 400GB drive, bumping it off the list. We also continue to

withhold our opinion of Socket 939 motherboards until we’re able to test more of them in the Lab.

The same stands for LGA775 motherboards for Intel CPUs. Finally, it’s official: NEC’s FE2111 SB has

banished all challengers in the CRT category. Next month we expect to begin listing a most favored

nation status for headsets, so stay tuned.

MonsterGecko.com’s “pistol mouse”

combines a mouse and gun for a new

spin on first-person shooters.

The Arms Race Is On

Our current gaming favorites : Bad Mojo, Ground Control II: Operation Exodus,

Planetside, City of Heroes

You’d think it was unique, but we’ve

actually been using the CAR-15

mouse for months.

More threatening still is the Weapon of

Mouse Destruction that Saddam Hussein

has been rumored to use for his gameplay,

wouldn’t you say?

High-end videocard:

Leadtek WinFast A400

Ultra TDH

Budget videocard:

ATI Radeon 9800

Do-everything videocard:

All-in-Wonder Radeon

9800 Pro

Soundcard:

Sound Blaster Audigy 2

ZS Platinum

Serial ATA hard drive:

Western Digital 740GD

Raptor

Parallel ATA hard drive:

Maxtor DiamondMax 10

DVD burner:

Sony DRU-700A

LCD monitor:

Dell 2001FP

High-end CRT monitor:

NEC FE2111 SB

Budget CRT monitor:

Cornerstone P1750

P4 motherboard:

Abit IC7-MAX3

Athlon XP motherboard:

Asus A7N8X Deluxe

Rev. 2.0

Portable MP3 player:

Apple iPod 40GB

Photo printer:

Canon i9900

Pocket PC PDA:

Dell Axim X30

Palm OS PDA:

Palm Tungsten C

7.1 speakers:

Creative Labs

Gigaworks S750

5.1 speakers:

Logitech Z-680

4.1 speakers:

Logitech Z-560

2.1 speakers:

Logitech Z-2200

&

SanDisk’s SD 256MB

• Wi-Fi Card

Double-dogging your SD slot

Your sad little handheld, born in the halcyon days when
32MB was plenty of storage and “wireless connectivity”
meant line-of-sight infrared, has some life in it yet. SanDisk’s
SD 256MB + Wi-Fi card is a brawny upgrade for any Pocket
PC handheld with an SD slot. You get 256MB of additional
storage (duh) and a Wi-Fi adapter with exceptional range
in a package the size of a stick of chewing gum. Welcome
back to the modern world! $130, http://www.sandisk.com

Jinx RIAA Toilet Paper

The RIAA is No. 1 for No. 2

Still fuming over that threatening letter

you received from the Recording Industry

Association of America because your neph-

ew was downloading MP3s on your PC?

Jinx’s RIAA toilet paper gives you a way to

vent your anger—and your last meal—at

the music industry’s trade group.

$6, http://www.jinx.com